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It wasn’t always pretty, but after another second half turnaround from the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0in Week 11, they managed to put together a second-straight win vs. the\u00a0Tennessee Titans, 16-13, effectively upping to their fifth victory on the year, and sweeping the season series, 2-0.<\/p>\n
A collective effort from the Texans ultimately helped this one end in their favor. Davis Mills stepped up to the occasion as Houston’s QB1, the defense stood out as one of the league’s most premier units once again, and in turn, leaves this team’s playoff hopes alive and well moving forward into the year.<\/p>\n
Here are seven of the biggest takeaways from the Texans’ action in Nashville for Week 11:<\/p>\n
Recently-signed Texans kicker Matthew Wright started the day off on the wrong foot after missing a chip shot field goal in the first quarter that would ultimately be negated thanks to a Titans defensive flag.<\/p>\n
Houston would end that first quarter drive scoreless from a failed fourth-down conversion, but after that blip on the radar for Wright and his miss, he was perfect for the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
He was a perfect 3-3 on field goals, made his only extra point attempted, and of course, iced the Texans’ fifth win of the year with his last-second field goal to take Houston over the edge with a victory.<\/p>\n
While Ka’imi Fairbairn (quad) is bound to return to his rightful spot as Houston’s starting kicker in the next couple of weeks, Wright was a pivotal part in the end results falling in the Texans’ favor this weekend.<\/p>\n
It was another performance that Davis Mills was elevated as the Texans’ signal caller where he was letting the passes fly, just as he did against the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n
And just like Houston’s last game that Mills was at the helm, he was able to rally this Texans offense to squeeze out enough for a winning effort for a second straight week. He completed 63% of his passes for 274 yards and a touchdown, and wound up leading his guys down the field late in the fourth quarter to ice a win with Wright’s field goal.<\/p>\n
Even without\u00a0C.J. Stroud, the Texans offense was able to come alive at exactly the right time, and in turn, keeps their season very much afloat.<\/p>\n
In the midst of Mills’ productive day in Tennessee, it was Texans star wideout Nico Collins who took command as his favorite target from start to finish, and made a bundle of big plays as a downfield playmaker.<\/p>\n
He logged the most receptions of his season thus far with nine to go for 92 yards and a touchdown, proving that while having a slow start to the year, he remains a premier name at his position around the league.<\/p>\n
Once Stroud is back in the fold, Collins’ status amongst the best wideouts in the world should become even clearer.<\/p>\n
Will Anderson Jr. was another one of those guys on the Texans’ roster who kept their hot hand against Tennessee. Anderson logged his fifth game in a row with one sack to his name, becoming only the fifth player in franchise history to accomplish that feat.<\/p>\n
He’s now leading the Texans in total sacks on the season, is a key captain of the NFL’s number-one scoring defense, and week after week, continues to rack up the stat sheet that’s leading to further success in the standings.<\/p>\n
If that’s not a compelling Defensive Player of the Year case to keep an eye on, I’m not sure what is.<\/p>\n
While the Texans’ offense started to catch fire towards the second half against this Titans defense, the run game never quite fell into place.<\/p>\n
Woody Marks managed to claim a large share of the Texans’ snaps in the backfield, but finished those 18 carries with 42 total yards on the ground, and made for one of the more inefficient and ineffective days running the ball from this season. Nick Chubb had 5.7 yards a carry on his end, but only with three carries.<\/p>\n
The Texans will need to get their run game up to speed as they dig deeper into the regular season, and Marks will inevitably be a key piece in finding that spark. This week just didn’t happen to be his time, though.<\/p>\n
One name who emerged as a nice complement to Collins in Mills’ pass-catching arsenal was rookie Jayden Higgins, who had another week where he held a respectable role in the Texans’ offensive attack.<\/p>\n
He was second on the Texans\u2019 receiving yards list with four catches on seven targets for 55 yards, which happens to turn out to be his highest mark for yards in his first year so far\u2013\u2013 including a nice chunk play for 23 yards that made up the fourth catch of the season for 20-plus yards.<\/p>\n
Little by little, Higgins is gaining more trust in the Texans’ offense, which should only continue to grow once Stroud is back in the picture.<\/p>\n
DeMeco Ryans\u00a0and the Texans can finally breathe a bit after this week, as their third win in four tries now leaves Houston at a 5-5 record, elevating to a .500 mark for the first time this season, and making for a miraculous recovery from a brutal 0-3 start.<\/p>\n
The work is far from over for the Texans, though. In their hunt for a Wild Card spot, the wins are going to have to keep coming, and the road ahead gets much harder than what the Titans presented this week. Five of their seven games on the horizon are against teams currently placed in the AFC playoff picture, including two that’ll be up against their division rival, the Indianapolis Colts.<\/p>\n
The climb continues on a short turnaround against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football; another game in which the Texans could be without Stroud, but regardless, will be a crucial game to take advantage of for the future of their season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Seattle Seahawks suffered a 21-19 loss\u00a0at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, dropping to 7-3. But even worse, rookie guard Grey Zabel was forced to leave the game with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Head coach Mike Macdonald\u00a0isn’t hitting the panic button just yet. But he is waiting to make a true declaration once all the information is available, via Greg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll say it’s optimistic right now,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cInitial news is really positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut let’s get out of the fog here,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
Article Continues Below<\/p>\n
ClutchQuiz<\/p>\n
Question 1 of 4<\/p>\n
Who famously guaranteed a Super Bowl win in 1969?<\/p>\n
Bob Griese<\/p>\n
Joe Namath<\/p>\n
Bart Starr<\/p>\n
Johnny Unitas<\/p>\n
Zabel suffered his injury with just over two minutes remaining in the game. If he were to be out long-term, it would be a major blow for the Seahawks. But if Macdonald’s early intuition proves right, perhaps Seattle fans can soon breathe a sign of relief.<\/p>\n
The left guard has started all 10 game for the Seahawks, playing 98 percent of the snaps. Even as a rookie, Zabel has already entrenched himself as a difference maker of the present and future. There is still room for improvement, as evident by his\u00a049.3 grade\u00a0from Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n
But Seattle has allowed a league-low 10 sacks, something is clearly working. The Seahawks want Zabel protecting Sam Darnold and will be carefully monitoring his knee injury throughout the week.<\/p>\n
Whether Zabel can play or not won’t change Sam Darnold’s ability to limit turnovers.\u00a0His four interceptions against the Rams proved extremely costly. He’ll certainly feel more comfortable in the pocket with Zabel protecting him. But the left guard can’t do it on his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It wasn’t always pretty, but after another second half turnaround from the\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0in Week 11, they managed to put together a second-straight win vs. the\u00a0Tennessee Titans, 16-13, effectively upping to their fifth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t